The present invention relates to an improvement in the method used to hang pre-hung doors in the rough door openings of the walls of homes or buildings under construction or during remodeling projects. More specifically, to the design of a metallic clip that can connect to both the door opening and a pre-hung door frame which will allow a person of average skills to easily install a pre-hung door or door jamb that is plumb and level.
In the past, in order to achieve an accurate installation of a pre-hung door unit or door jamb, so that it is plumb and level, workman and carpenters have had to use a painstaking trial and error method of nailing wood shims or expensive metal adjustable devices between the door units jamb and the walls rough opening in order to plumb and level the pre-hung door and secure it to the rough opening. When installing a pre-hung door the installer has two options. Option one is to leave the pre-hung door by older methods hanging or attached to the jamb and install the unit as a whole. Option two is to remove it from it's hinges and install just the jamb and then replace the door.
The advantage of leaving a pre-hung door attached to it's jamb during installation is that it allows the carpenter to use the door as a squaring device to determine that the proper clearance between the door and door jamb has been applied. Also by leaving the door attached the installer can ascertain whether the door is closing against the door stop correctly and thus, the installation is proper. The disadvantage of leaving the door attached is that the door creates a significant obstacle to the installer while placing and fastening shims to plumb and level the door jamb. Installation of a pre-hung door with the door in the jamb may require more than one workman in order to deal with the cumbersome obstacle.
The second type of installation of a pre-hung door is when the installer removes the door and installs just the door jamb. The advantage of this is that the jamb itself becomes less cumbersome as the weight is greatly reduced and the door is removed as an obstacle to installation. However, this method creates significant problems in that the odds are greater that the jamb will not be installed correctly and thus the door will not fit properly when re-installed onto the jamb. This method can be extremely time consuming and may also require a highly skilled craftsman in order to perform the tasks. All of this, including the skill level of the craftsman, the time involved and the need to readjust and constantly use trial and error when hanging a door significantly contributes to higher installation costs, labor costs, and thus an end cost to a home or building owner.
In the prior art, various methods of hanging door frames are known. One such method is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,320,705 issued Jun. 15, 1965 to Downing, Jr. for a door frame fastener. This patent discloses the use of metal clips that may be attached to the rough opening of a door in order to allow a metal door frame to then be attached to the clips. Although this method uses clips to hang a door frame, it in no way addresses the problem of plumbing and leveling a wooden or pre-hung door. This method addresses only the problem of connecting a U-shaped metal door frame to a rough opening.
Another type of adjustable door frame that is known is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,986,044 issued to Funari on Jan. 22, 1991. This patent discloses an adjustable door jamb assembly that can be aligned and installed in a door opening. This patent discloses the use of snap in guide clips to support the jamb assembly and adjust it. However, once again, this assembly appears to work only with metal type door frames and the clips must be pre-installed on the door and the door specially made to use this type of clip.
From this discussion it can be seen that it would be desirable to provide a method to hang pre-hung door frames of all types including wooden and composite type frames and to make such method easily usable so as to decrease the level of time and skill required when installing pre-hung door frames.